Besides having a lot of physical tools & hardware at Castlemakers, we also spend a lot of time with software. For many of us making physical things is a lot of the enjoyment, but in today’s world many of the newer tools use software to control the machinery and the product design is often created in software also.

This ‘fusion’ of software and hardware is what gives many of the newer tools we have their power; whether it’s 3D printers, our laser cutter/engraver, desktop CNC’s, or even some of our electronic test equipment. Knowing how to use that software to its full advantage can make things simpler to create or even create a more innovative design possible. Skilled makers will combine that knowledge with the older hands-on skills; for example, knowing how a kerf will impact the final piece when you a laser cut wood.

Many of our classes, like our upcoming Fusion 360 class, help others to learn the software that can be used to design and create digitally and then later into actual objects. And our monthly Castlemakers CoderDojo helps youth learn about coding to create computer programs, online environments, and even coding with physical computing. Stop by to see some of the creations or attend one of our events or classes!

July 20th we participated in the 3rd Annual Indiana Youth Hackathon in Indianapolis. This was the 3rd year our CoderDojo attended and this time, several of us were volunteers also. The 2019 event was bigger than ever, even people from the CoderDojo and Raspberry Pi Foundation flew in from California to attend. The CoderDojo movement, which started in Ireland, is now in 102 countries and is an international organization. Many people don’t realize Indiana has more CoderDojos than any other state in the US!

Attending a ‘hackathon’ might sound a little intimidating to some, but it’s really a fun event where kids can meet, work with other kids (and adults) to learn and show off their computer coding skills. While there are judges and trophies involved, most of it is a non-competitive event where you can learn and ‘show off your stuff’ to others. Giveaways (and there were a LOT), t-shirts & stickers, free food… no wonder there was a waitlist to attend this year.

There were three programming tracks this year: Javascript, Python, and Scratch. Youth worked on a series of challenges and received points for completing the task & for the best solution. Trophies were awarded to those with the most points. The kids did not need to know their chosen programming language in advance; many were there to just learn more about the language. Along with the programming challenges there was also a project expo this year, where people could show off what they have done.

There were also drop in sessions – for example a morning session for adults wanting to learn more (CoderDojo 101 for Parents) and an afternoon session called Moonhack. Moonhack was a challenge/task to program a lunar buggy to travel across a lunar surface (that day was the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing after all) in Scratch or Python with lots of volunteers there to help them complete the coding. Parents 101 was as it sounds, a session to explain CoderDojos and answer questions. We even had a few that were interested in starting one where they lived.